To Be Human
by HedwigBlack
Summary: Draco has a lot on his mind and Luna wants to cheer him up. But will he let her?


For the Pairing Diversity Challenge

Prompt: butterfly kisses

* * *

Draco leaned against the low wall of the Astronomy tower and looked out over the moonlit grounds. The wind was cool against his face and he rested his head on his folded arms. He'd been trying to fix that damn cabinet in the secret room for ages. He'd done everything he could think of and no books in the library could give him the answer. And that business with the cursed necklace has failed spectacularly. The fact that the cursed jewelry had come very close to injuring Potter had not escaped his notice and he wondered what the result would have been if it had. None of that really mattered though. He was running out of time and Snape's constant questioning was not helping him.

What was it to Snape if he accomplished his goal? It's not as though _his_ family was at stake. It's not as though _he_ had an impossible task to complete. He just sat around Malfoy manner and agreed with everything the Dark Lord said. What was he so worried about?

Draco felt sick to his stomach and he knew that there was a good chance that he would be caught and that he should return to the Slytherin common room but the dank atmosphere of the dungeons did nothing to improve his state of mind. He preferred the Astronomy tower and the view it afforded. It was a good place to be alone and think…

"You look troubled, Draco Malfoy."

He sighed. He did not need to turn around to know who the dreamy, girlish, voice belonged to. It seemed she was making it her personal mission to haunt him. She also seemed to think it was her duty to 'cheer him up.'

He did not make any physical indication that he acknowledged her presence. When he felt her approach him from behind, he simply rolled his eyes and said, "What's it to you, Luna Lovegood?"

She came to stand beside him and cocked her head to one side. He stared stonily ahead of him, just making out the Giant Squid surfacing in the center of the Black Lake. He pretended that her penetrating gaze was not unsettling, though he knew it was useless. She had a way of knowing his thoughts without needing to use Legilimency. She was a magical marvel, he thought. She should be studied.

"It is nothing to me, Draco," she said. "I've simply made an observation that you seem troubled. You did not deny it either. So what is wrong?"

"Nothing that concerns you," he said coldly.

"Perhaps not," she agreed and nodded solemnly. "But it is also not good to bear one's burdens alone. And my hands are free and the Wrackspurts are not around to make my brain go fuzzy."

Draco opened his mouth and was about to ask what a Wrackspurt was, but then realized he didn't really want to know. He didn't want to continue the conversation any longer so he resumed his brooding in silence. She seemed to take the hint but was not about to leave without one more display of weirdness.

She put a hand on his shoulder and with surprising force pushed him away from the tower wall so that he was facing her. Then she came close and put her arms around him.

Draco stood frozen, unsure of how to proceed. She was warm, and her fingers gently brushed back and forth along his back and he could feel her warm breath and a few butterfly kisses against his neck. As annoyed as he had been a few moments before, he didn't think he could resist her now and though he hated to admit it, having Luna hold him was very comforting.

He'd never let anyone get so close to him. Not really. There had been Pansy, of course, but she was just a distraction. She was just someone to have around to shag in the prefects' bathroom and to have on his arm when he paraded around the common room. She was convenient and willing and there was no cuddling. Ever.

But having Luna hold him like this was probably the most innocent hug Draco had ever experienced and it was just what he needed. So he gave in if only for that moment. His arms came around her of their own accord and stroked her shiny hair. It was soft and smelled of lavender and he breathed in her scent. The hug only lasted a few seconds more before she pulled away and gave him a beaming smile.

"Good night, Draco Malfoy."

And then she was gone.

She'd gotten what she wanted from him and then she left. Normally such treatment would have stung and he would have been furious. But he couldn't think that way because all she'd asked for was to be close to him somehow and he'd refused to cooperate. She hadn't asked him to fix a broken Vanishing cabinet. She hadn't asked him to murder someone. She hadn't asked him to tell her his deepest, darkest, secret.

She had simply asked him to be human for a moment and he'd refused. So she forced him.

He slowly made his way through the silent castle toward the dungeons and vowed that next time, she wouldn't have to.


End file.
